My studio desk, where I spend way too many hours each day, is a bit of a cluttered mess because there are three PCs, a couple of monitors, a microphone and a trifecta of mice that I use to navigate my way around the screens. Hidden to my far right is a small, 65% form factor keyboard, that I pull out when I game on the big rig.
While this smaller keyboard I use fits perfectly in the corner, ready for when I need it most, it’s still attached via a USB cable that adds to the mess. It’s something I can live with but when the Razer BlackWidow V3 Mini Wireless Keyboard landed on my desk, I quickly realised that an upgrade to a wireless mini keyboard will soon be the cards for this writer.
If you’re new to the world of small form factor keyboards, here’s the lowdown; A 65% form factor keyboard strips away most of the non-essential keys like the numpad and function keys and instead gives the user a barebones QWERTY keyboard.
They are popular because they save a lot of desk space and travel well with a gaming notebook.
As to be expected. the Razer BlackWidow V3 Mini Wireless Keyboard ticks all the right boxes. There’s the Razer Chroma RGB customisable backlighting with 16.8 million colours, the tactile and relatively quiet Razer yellow mechanical switches, and of course Hyperspeed (2.4GHz wireless) and Bluetooth connectivity options.
For wireless, there’s a USB dongle hidden in a small compartment on the underside and you can connect up to 3 Bluetooth devices like a phone, notebook and a console. Switching between profiles is easily done by holding down the FN and ALT keys along with the numbers 1, 2, or 3 keys.
The built-in battery adds a bit of weight to the keyboard but I prefer a heavier peripheral to toggle on. Razer says the battery delivers up to 200 hours or about 8 days but that obviously depends on how much you bash those keys. In the 3 weeks I used this keyboard I charged it twice, which is not bad considering how much I used it.
To charge the Razer BlackWidow V3 Mini Wireless Keyboard, there is a single USB-C port at the back of the keyboard next to the Wireless/Bluetooth switch. Should you run out of battery juice, you can use the keyboard as normal while it is connected to a USB cable and charging.
Even though wireless keyboards are nothing new, seeing wireless and Bluetooth capabilities on a small form factor keyboard is not something you see often.
If you are wondering about latency, this keyboard is as responsive in wireless mode as it is in wired and I could not distinguish in performance between the two modes. I was impressed.
As a relative niche section of the gaming keyboard market, I was expecting this keyboard to come in a premium, and so it does, you can get the Razer BlackWidow V3 Mini Wireless Keyboard for around R3,400 if you are shopping around.
